My brother has shared that several times recently our 87-year-old mother has visited for dinner and has resorted to pointing and grunting to ask family members to pass food items to her. My brother responds by asking her to use words to tell him what he wants. She shrugs and giggles and points again. Typically he has only seen this in the late hours of the day. She does have severe hearing loss (wears hearing aids) but is usually very verbal. We are puzzled by this behavior.
Could this be a sign of dementia?
Trouble finding words is typical.
Talking around the "lost" word is often done but so is pointing, grunting and other motions that would give others the idea that something is wanted.
If she only has problems in the evening it may be because she is tired.
It is also possible that is this only occurred when there were "strangers" or people that she does not see often she may be extra "confused" as her brain is working over time to remember who everyone is and the "chaos" of extra people.
If she has not been to a doctor recently and or been diagnosed with dementia you might want to schedule an appointment.
If there are other "unusual" things going on a test for a UTI should also be done. UTI while they sound harmless can wreck havoc with an elders brain. And they can become serious.